Alternative finance, recycled private equity and engineering deals
A wrap up of deals around the country from the team at TheBusinessDesk.com
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Seneca Partners has sold Seneca Trade Finance to iO Finance Partners (iO), a newly launched private credit platform that brings together a diverse group of alternative lenders.
Tim Murphy, Director at Seneca Partners commented: “Since we backed Chris Divers, Chris Williams and Mark McGuire nearly nine years ago they have gone on to build the leading provider of Trade Finance to UK SME’s. This is a fantastic success story and epitomises what we do here at Seneca, identifying and backing great management teams, giving them the support to build and develop exceptional businesses from scratch.
“The time is now right for us to exit and we have no doubt the business will continue to thrive under the new ownership structure and we wish the team every success in the future.”
A lean operation in Manchester, with a team of just 12, Seneca Trade Partners now has just short of 300 companies on the books with a maximum facility of £300k, and a typical loan of around £100k – normally linked to a transaction.
The deal is estimated to be worth £40m.
Introductions are often made by brokers, many of them also ex-bank executives, but the business also invested in a trade portal app which allows customers to view their transactions and make drawdowns through the app.
Chris Divers, Director at Seneca Trade Partners, said: “Since forming this business the support from Seneca has been first class and has enabled us to create a business which is instrumental in providing financing to SMEs. We are the UK’s leading SME stock funder allowing businesses to turn inventory into income faster.
“Joining iO will give us additional scale which we will utilise to provide even more SMEs with crucial access to growth capital.”
Seneca received legal advice on the sale from Jonathan Gillow and Dan McDonagh at Hill Dickinson.
iO Partners is a buy-and-build alternative financing player which intends to acquire three alternative finance providers, led by CEO, Mike Ellwood, an experienced Corporate Banker having been Managing Director for RBS Structured Finance, and most recently established Santander, making it a significant player in the market as Head of Corporate and Commercial Banking, with more than £20bn in assets and almost 1,000 people.
Early backers of iO include B.P. Marsh, a specialist investor in early-stage financial services businesses, which has taken an 8% shareholding for £10m and Janus Henderson, which is also investing on the same terms.
Seneca Trade Partners was created when director Chris Divers pitched the idea to Haydock headquartered Seneca to offer finance for SMEs who were finding it difficult to access stock funding quickly and when they needed it most.
This is Murphy’s second sale of a business into a buy-and-build operation. In 2023 Azets, bought Gorilla Accounting,a digital accountancy firm for entrepreneurs, sole traders and small limited companies.
Founded by Murphy and Dan Fallows in 2015 it grew rapidly to employ 45 people, with its headquarters in Bolton.
At the time, Murphy told TheBusinessDesk.com: “It’s been a great journey since me and Dan set Gorilla up in 2015 with a really great brand and a real vision to simplify and disrupt the whole world of digital accounting.”
You could change a few words and apply the same quote to the trade finance business.
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Egis, an architecture, consulting, construction engineering, operations and mobility services firm, has acquired Omnia Projects, an engineering consultancy specialising in electricity Transmission and Distribution (T&D).
The acquisition strengthens Egis’ ability to support the UK’s energy transition, enhancing its capabilities in energy infrastructure, grid connection and substation design.
Established in 2012, Omnia Projects, which has offices in Northallerton, Cheshire and Stafford, is a specialist in T&D engineering, project management and technical assurance.
With over 110 staff the company has delivered critical infrastructure for clients including National Grid, helping to shape the UK’s evolving energy system.
The addition of Omnia Projects is intended to strengthen Egis’s strategy to deliver a fully integrated service offering in the sector.
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Regionally focused private equity investor Palatine has successfully raised its largest-ever fund, closing its Buyout Fund V at £254 million.
Palatine co-founder and group managing partner Gary Tipper told us that he was particularly pleased that entrepreneurs who made good returns after being backed by earlier Palatine funds have reinvested their personal wealth into the fifth fund.
“While the vast majority of the fund has come from institutions, the best part of £30m has come from private investors and family offices and a lot of those are people from management teams we backed and have been successful, and then they are giving us their money to invest for them. So that’s another strong endorsement,” he said.
He also said the lower mid-market firm not only beat its own target for the fundraise and achieved a “re-up rate” of well in excess of 100% based on capital raised from existing investors, but found no push back on its commitment to sustainability.
Palatine has been a B Corp since 2022 and attracted a number of new investors across Europe to complement existing investors from the UK, the Nordics and the USA.
Tipper said the whole business firmly believes that private equity investment done the right way is a force for good, and focused on achieving strong, sustainable returns.
“We do it because we think it’s going to make our businesses better and be able to attract better talent, retain that talent, show their customer base that they take it seriously. It’s the right thing to do to run your business the right way. Look after your people, look after your supply chain, look after your customer base. It’s not rocket science,” he said.
The firm’s investment strategy is founded on a strong regional focus from its Manchester head office and is underpinned by three core elements: ESG; backing businesses with a strong M&A strategy and those with scope for operational improvement.
At the Rainmakers conference in 2024 Tipper described the fundraising market as the toughest he’s ever known.
However, today he said that the firm’s largest-ever fund was raised quickly and above target. “This success is a testament to the team’s ability to consistently generate strong returns including the recent exits of Anthesis, NRG Riverside and DTM,” he said.
He added: “It’s very pleasing to see such a strong re-up rate and, after a difficult period post Brexit for fund-raising in Europe, to welcome several new EU-based LPs to our UK-focused fund. As ever we are extremely grateful to our existing investors for their continued support.”
Palatine’s four previous Buyout Funds have invested between £10 million and £50 million into established, profitable and predominantly regional companies in the lower mid-market focused primarily in three core sectors: business services, technology and financial services.
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Lender First Enterprise has reported a major milestone.
The organisation says it provided £13m in loans during the financial year ending 31 March 2025.
Over the year, 712 businesses received funding, marking a 13% increase from the previous year.
The loans came through programmes like Start Up Loans, the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II by British Business Bank, and the Regional Growth Fund.
This support also helped create and protect 1,246 jobs and gave a boost to local communities.
First Enterprise also focused on promoting diversity in business. Of the total funding, 36% went to women-led businesses and 29% supported businesses led by people from minority backgrounds.
Hassan Ahmed, executive chairman of First Enterprise said: “Reaching this £13m milestone is a significant achievement, but what truly drives us at First Enterprise is the impact we have on underserved communities across the Midlands.
“By providing accessible finance to small businesses that might otherwise struggle to secure funding, we’re helping to create jobs, support local economies, and foster long-term, sustainable growth. We are committed to empowering entrepreneurs who are driving change and innovation in communities that need it most.”
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Power Capacitors, a Birmingham-based specialist in power quality and power factor correction, has been acquired by engineer and sector investor Harry Townshend.
The business had remained in family ownership since its inception in 1973, but the second generation recently opted to retire, prompting the search for a new owner.
Townshend, who has a background in engineering and business investment, was identified as a suitable successor to take the company forward.
The acquisition was backed by a £1.4m asset-based lending package from Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending, providing working capital and supporting plans for future growth.
Power Capacitors serves a wide customer base – from multinational corporations to SMEs and private individuals – and delivers a mix of product sales, servicing, maintenance, and installation across power quality systems.
The company will continue to operate from its existing Birmingham site under the new ownership.
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TheBusinessDesk.com’s Rainmaker Awards return this summer and will showcase a wider cross-section of the region’s deals community.
The hotly-contested regional corporate finance awards will continue to recognise teams, individuals and deals, and the shortlist and winners will be decided on by the community, as always.
This year we have asked all firms to submit a short entry, along with the key deals they have advised on, to ensure our judges have the full information when making their selections.
Once entries have been submitted the shortlists will be drawn up in the usual way, with TheBusinessDesk.com hosting 40+ leading corporate finance professionals on a judging day. Those shortlists are then voted on by a wider group of people from across the community, on a strict one vote per firm basis, to decide our 2025 winners.
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